Ashton Warden

625 E Carrier Rd
Enid, Ok 73701

Todd Russ
Oklahoma State Treasury
2300 N Lincoln Blvd #217
Oklahoma City, Ok 73105

February 15, 2024

Todd Russ,

I personally wish for Oklahoma to help its citizens in whatever way possible and i am
hoping you can help me accomplish that. I believe Oklahoma should set aside funds for natural
disasters to help those affected. Oklahoma is in the center of a region known as “tornado alley”
for this reason I fully believe that the state should set aside funds to help those who get affected
by natural disasters. I am asking you as the state treasurer to help with this goal to help
Oklahoma citizens recover from tragedies. Many people lose all that they had when tornadoes hit
and have no way of recovering from it.
Oklahoma has been ranked as the number one ranked state in natural disasters. In the
article “Perilous Positions: Oklahoma Ranked No. 1 in Nation for Natural Disasters,” Lee
Guthrie states, “A staggering 52 disasters impacted more than 1.17 million Oklahoma residents
since 2000, including severe storms, wildfires, tornadoes, and ice storms.” After seeing this
statistic, it altered my mind on how much we really are affected by natural disasters. Knowing
that over a million people have been affected since 2000 was shocking to see. Another thing
stated in this website is there are just over 4 million people in Oklahoma as of July 2023. That
means that over a quarter of Oklahoma's population has been affected by disasters. Oklahoma
averages over 53 tornadoes a year according to Jennifer Hollohan in her article “Tornado Season
in Oklahoma.” Oklahoma is ranked 9th in the nation for tornadoes and ranked 7th for deaths by
tornadoes in the nation. While few people die yearly from tornadoes, a lot are affected by them.
Natural disasters cause so much damage to Oklahoma that it is estimated to be around 2
to 5 billion dollars just last year alone. The National Weather Service's states Oklahoma
sustained 2 to 5 billion in 2023 alone. Since 1980, they have caused 20 to 50 billion dollars in
damage to the state and its residents. There are 4 million residents in Oklahoma, meaning on
average each Oklahoman pays 1,250 dollars in damage. Considering that there are some
residents who are not affected by these disasters, every year the amount of money people are
paying for damages is going to be much higher for those who are affected. Some people cannot
afford to come back from these damages. The National Weather Service's also states that
 Oklahoma City is the tornado capital of the U.S. and just in 2023 alone it had 4 tornadoes just in
the city. This does not include the rest of Oklahoma. OKC has had 83 tornadoes since 1980,
which is an astronomical amount for one city.
I personally have been affected by different disasters and know many others who have
also been affected. When the ice storm hit just a few years ago it affected my entire
neighborhood. Tree branches covered the roads and all over people's roofs. It caused damage to
the roof of my house and many of my neighbors, but we had to cover it all out of our own
pockets. The blizzard that hit Oklahoma in 2010 was deadly for people across the state. I know
my family and my friends all lost power. Many people lost their lives in this blizzard and had
tons of damage caused to their homes. Everybody I have asked about this told me they paid out
of pocket for the repairs to anything they lost or that was damaged. Some people cannot afford to
repair what was damaged right away, which means they must live with whatever was damaged
until they can save enough money to fix it.
I believe that if Oklahoma set aside money for recovery funds it would be beneficial to
millions. With help from the state people could afford to get these different things fixed and it
could help them tremendously. I do not believe that Oklahoma should pay for everything that
was damaged but if they could match each person who is paying for damages or if they could
cover what the other person cannot pay then it would be a huge help. Another way they could
help would be by covering a certain percentage of each person's damages. If they covered 40 or
50 percent of each person's damages, it could help each person equally depending on the damage
done.
Thank you for your time and consideration in my letter. I appreciate you taking your time
to read this letter. I hope you can find a way to help Oklahoma residents recover from natural
disasters. If further information is required or wanted, you can reach me via email at
ashtonwarden77@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Ashton Warden

Guthrie, Lee. “Perilous Positions: Oklahoma Ranked No. 1 in Nation for Disasters.” Tahlequah Daily
Press, 26 Dec. 2023, www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/perilous-positions-oklahoma-ranked-
no-1-in-nation-for-disasters/article_179fc108-a0e9-11ee-936c-f7a00205ba29.html.
Lee Guthrie
His website Perilous Positions is about where Oklahoma stands in comparison to other states. It talks
about natural disasters, tornadoes, and how they affect people. From what I can find online Lee
Guthrie has many different posts on the Tahlequah Daily Press website and is a big part of their
company. I cannot find too much stuff online about him, but he is incredibly involved within his
community as well. He is seen helping children in need and around his community. This post was
created on December 26, 2023. It is an exceptionally reliable post as this news outlet is also
reliable. It is not biased as it is an article about how tornadoes affect people and how Oklahoma
ranks on the list. It is helpful to my letter because it talks about everything I wanted to talk about
Hollohan, Jennifer. “Tornado Season in Oklahoma: Peak Timing and Earliest on Record.” A, 31 July
2023, a-z-animals.com/blog/tornado-season-in-oklahoma-peak-timing-and-earliest-on-record/.
Jennifer Hollohan.
She is the Author at A-Z Animals, she primarily focusses on animals and gardening. She also talks
about how different things can affect the environment. She currently lives in Colorado with her
family. This source was published on July 31, 2023. It is not a biased source as it simply talks
about how Oklahoma is affected by natural disasters and how the environment reacts to them. It
is funded by the website which gets money from ad revenue. One thing I talked about in my letter
was how disasters affect Oklahoma, which is what she talks about in her website, so it is
“July 19 News Release Federal Disaster Declaration Approved.” Oklahoma Department of Emergency
Management, 19 July 2023, oklahoma.gov/oem/emergencies-and-disasters/2023/june-17-severe-
weather-event/july-19-news-release-federal-disaster-declaration-approved.html.
The Oklahoma Federal Disaster Declaration does not have a set author. I searched for an author, but
none was found. This is not a biased website as it talks solely about the damages natural disasters
have caused, and how much money it would cost Oklahoma to repair them. This website is very
helpful as it shows what citizens would have to pay in order to fix what is lost and they clearly
cannot afford it.
US Department of Commerce, NOAA. “Tornadoes in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Area since 1890.”
National Weather Service, NOAA’s National Weather Service, 5 Feb. 2024,
www.weather.gov/oun/tornadodata-okc#:~:text=1.-
,Introduction,cities%20in%20the%20United%20States.
US Department of Commerce.
There is no author shown for this website. It was created and funded by the government. It shows how
Oklahoma has been affected by tornadoes and other disasters from 1980 until now. It is an
informational website that is not biased toward anything specifically. It is supported by the
government. It is constantly being updated with added information as that becomes available.